


The Devil and the Dark Knight

by ThatHalloweenChick



Series: Legends at Dusk [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, DC Extended Universe, Justice League (2017), Lucifer (TV), Wonder Woman - All Media Types
Genre: Crisis on Infinite Earths Crossover Event (CW DC TV Universe), Multi, Pre Crisis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:07:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23216014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatHalloweenChick/pseuds/ThatHalloweenChick
Summary: Lucifer Morningstar has surrendered himself to Hell's will. Bruce Wayne is bleeding to death in Nanda Parbat. One cosmic being will not let these two fall to their fates, the Monitor requires both of them to discover the secret behind Darkseid's "Knightmare" universe, a place that has been haunting Bruce for years.From the ruins of Gotham City to the streets of Apokolips, these two unlikely partners will have to support each other if they want to make it out alive and save their respective universes from a Crisis.
Relationships: Bruce Wayne/Jim Gordon (pining), Lucifer Morningstar/Chloe Decker (pining)
Series: Legends at Dusk [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1685299
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

Alone, sat atop his throne and looking down on all of damnation, Lucifer Morningstar couldn't help but sigh. Lucifer missed his friends, all of those tedious little connections he had made on Earth. He missed hearing Ms. Lopez's voice, her unlimited joy and excitement before lunch never failed to make him smile. He missed his therapy sessions with Linda and how she was always there for him. Lucifer even missed Detective Douche, though only a little. Most of all though, Lucifer's stupid heart missed Chloe Dekker, he had so much he still wanted to tell her, things that you couldn't really say to someone before you leave them forever.

Lucifer kept telling himself that those tethers to that silly little world were merely pebbles in the lake that was his life, that his lifespan was forever, he'd move on and forget about them. One day maybe centuries from now, he could leave again and go back to LA, he could party and shag till his heart was content, with no strings to hold him down. Lucifer, however knew that was a pile of shit, he knew that the feelings he shared with Chloe were engraved on whatever was left of his tattered soul. He had never felt anything like it before. As for the others, they felt like family to him, a proper family, a real one.

Brushing a few tears out of his eyes, Lucifer knew he had to smarten up. The King of Hell couldn't very well attend the torture of white supremists with a puffy face.

"An interesting place you have here" said an almost distorted voice beside Lucifer

Turning in his seat, Lucifer was, to say the least, surprised to see a bald man with mutton chops and a bizarre costume, hovering next to him, miles above the city of the damned.

"Who the fuck are you?" Lucifer spat, he wasn't in the mood for surprises

"Just an observer" the newcomer replied "A Monitor, if you will"

"I will bloody not and unless you want to be put down for Friday's Clown Karaoke Bonanza, I advise that you observe somewhere else" 

The Monitor, or whatever his name was, had an almost visible aura of intense power around him, the hairs on Lucifer's arms were standing up and his teeth were on edge. The power was incredible and all channeled through one man dressed like a reject from a sci fi porn parody.

"You don't look like any Angel I've ever met" Lucifer assumed that the being had something to do with his father, he had never met anyone with this level of power outside of other Celestials.

"A more accurate term for me would be god"

"Trust me, I've met the bastard, you look nothing like him" Lucifer grinned, trying his best to appear unfazed by the Monitor "So what do you want?"

"You, specifically your talents"

"Eww, I feel like we're probably related somehow"

The Monitor's face grew stern.

"Would it kill you to act your age, the fate of all reality is at stake, not just this side dimension but also the one you call the Silver City"

"Now I know you're blowing smoke up my arse" Lucifer chuckled "Dad wouldn't let his precious Heaven be destroyed"

"He has no choice" the Monitor revealed with a tone that sent a chill up Lucifer's spine. 

The observer had to be wrong, simple logic dictated that but something in the back of Lucifer's mind believed him

"We have an army of Angels and Demons at our backs, I'm sure we'll be fine" Lucifer tried shaking his feeling of worry

"It won't be a battle..." the Monitor told him "This place is composed of positive energy"

Lucifer wanted so badly to make a joke about Hell having positive energy but for some reason nothing came out, he simply listened.

"Our enemy is composed of anti matter, the second it hits here you'll have moments to make your peace before everything is destroyed"

Lucifer considered this revelation before deciding "Good"

"You don't truly believe that"

"Oh yes I do" Lucifer shared, letting his eyes glow red "Maybe it's time for us to sleep, what's the point in being alive forever"

"And what of Chloe Dekker" The Monitor fired back

Lucifer's blood ran cold "What does she have to do with this?"

"Her universe faces the same peril as yours, she too will die"

Lucifer opened his demon wings and lunged at the Monitor, wrapping his hands around the being's throat.

"Whatever game you're playing, you leave her out of it" he snarled

"If you stand by and do nothing, her fate is sealed" the Monitor replied with no hint of emotion "However..."

That word convinced Lucifer to let go, if there was any chance Chloe would live, he'd take it.

"If you come with me, fight against this threat before it arrives, we have the opportunity to save not only Chloe Dekker but everyone you know and love"

There it was, no question what Lucifer had to do, not only for Chloe but for Maze, Linda, Amenadiel and even little Charlie. They deserved better than he did and if there was even a one percent chance that they were at risk, that the Monitor was telling the truth, Lucifer had to protect them.

No doubt seeing that he had won by the look on Lucifer's face, the Monitor waved a hand over a spot of emptiness in the dark sky between them and a blue portal burst into life, it was unlike anything Lucifer had ever seen.

"What about Hell?" Lucifer asked "I can't very well leave it unguarded, the Demons might escape again"

"Though to you this will take a currently unknowable length of time, in the grand scheme of things I shall return you exactly thirty seconds after you left"

To anyone else that promise would probably seem impossible to deliver but Lucifer was already believing the impossible, so what was one more for the road.

"Where are we going?" Lucifer asked, approaching the portal with the Monitor

"There is one more person we must recruit before we begin our task" the Monitor explained "We require a detective"

Lucifer's heart skipped a beat as he went into the portal, for the first time in months Lucifer had hope and he had a purpose that wasn't just being his father's guard dog.

\--

Bruce Wayne was sprawled out, bleeding to death on a tiny bed in the house of an old friend in Nanda Parbat. Bruce's original intent was to use a Lazarus Pit to heal his fifty year old body, make himself ready for whatever world threatening danger that would succeed the Steppenwolf mission.

The League of Assassins were waiting for Bruce, he battled them and overcame warriors at least twenty years younger than himself. The feeling was incredible, he didn't feel like a middle aged mortal in a world of monsters, aliens and gods, he was in his element. Then something unexpected happened, Bruce felt a stabbing sensation in his chest, in his heart, he had pushed himself too far.

Bruce's body quickly gave way, assassins cut into him, deeper and deeper, their Sensai cackling at the failure of the man once thought to be their greatest enemy.

Branding Bruce with the mark of disgrace and taking both of his hands as trophies, they let him bleed out on the streets of the city. When they were gone, a long retired assassin emerged from his hiding spot, his name was Talmadge and in another life him and Bruce had trained together.

Talmadge took Bruce to his dwelling and tried his best to make him comfortable, reminiscing on the days of Ra's Al Ghul and the pranks they used to play behind their old master's back.

The things they didn't talk about hung over them, Bruce knew his blood wasn't clotting, his body wasn't going to heal, it was already shutting down. Bruce felt colder by the moment and Talmadge's looks of concern and pity weren't giving him much hope.

They talked about Talia Al Ghul, Ra's daughter, apparently she had a son named Damian, who was rising fast through the ranks of the League. Bruce felt sorry for the boy, a childhood training to be the next Ra's Al Ghul was no childhood at all, still what did Bruce know about healthy childhoods. 

Talmadge said he had something important to tell him but Bruce couldn't keep his eyes open, darkness seemed to swallow everything around him.

"Bruce Wayne" a voice boomed through the dark, not a question but a statement, not are you? but instead, you are

Bruce's eyes snapped open, he didn't know what to take in first, the alien in cosmic armor standing before him, the man retracting red demonic wings back into his body, or Talmadge lying unconscious on the ground.

"When you said detective, I assumed you meant someone else" the man who had the wings complained, his accent sounded British

The cosmic man approached Bruce, instinctively Bruce tightened his fist. Wait. He had both his hands cut from him. Bruce looked down, both his hands were there, he wasn't bleeding anymore and he wasn't in pain either.

"I am known as the Monitor" the cosmic man told Bruce before introducing the Brit as Lucifer Morningstar.

"It's happening, isn't it? the end?" Bruce asked, he had been expecting this moment since a version of Barry Allen showed up in the Batcave two years ago, giving him a warning, his first warning

The Monitor nodded and gave him some answers. A disaster was imminent, the scale was unlike anything Bruce had ever dealt with and the stakes were impossibly high. There was however a grain of hope, one of the first universes to be affected by the disaster had actually survived. The Monitor said that he didn't understand why that was but that he had arranged for Bruce and Lucifer to meet with someone who might.

The Monitor told them that the Barry Allen that visited Bruce wanted to create a timeline that wasn't as broken as the dystopia he had come from. Bruce remembered that hellscape, he still had bad dreams about it.

"Do not be fooled, the world I send you to does not need saving" the Monitor continued "it does not want for heroes or interference, any attempt at trying will endanger your actual mission and the lives of those you care about"

Despite the fact that the cosmic being had brought Bruce back from the dead and healed him of his wounds, Bruce still didn't trust him, he recognised a man who thought that the ends justified the means when he heard one, mainly because Bruce used to be one.

Lucifer Morningstar on the other hand seemed less like a man and more like an impatient child. Lucifer appeared bored out of his mind at the revelations being shared by the Monitor and instead of paying attention, had decided to play with a ceremonial shield attached to the wall.

"Before we leave" Bruce spoke up "I need to get some equipment sent out to me, do either of you have something that I could use to contact my satellite?"

Lucifer glared, unimpressed but the Monitor simply shook his head.

"We don't have the time for that, tell me what you need?"

"It's a battle suit back in Gotham"

The Monitor closed his eyes and raised a hand.

"Luke Fox's laboratory..."

Bruce didn't question how he knew that. Very little surprised him anymore.

"The suit codenamed Bright Knight has been completed" the Monitor told him, twisting his hand

One moment Bruce was in torn, blood soaked clothes, the next he was standing tall in the prototype battle suit, diagnostics being relayed to him via the lense in his cowl. The Bat symbol on his chest powered up and glowed bright yellow.

"Marvelous!" Lucifer laughed "We just recruited a furry with a target"

Bruce let Lucifer have his little joke, not lowering himself to inform him that the symbol was meant to be a target, as the kevlar behind it was the most reinforced part of the costume, designed to take practically anything.

"So who are we meeting?" Bruce asked

"The King of the Earth that you will be visiting" the Monitor explained "His name is Darkseid" 

  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Bruce and Lucifer had been walking in the desert for almost five hours. Bruce had offered Lucifer some of the water rations he carried in his utility belt but Lucifer brushed him off, giving him some hokum about being immortal.

It was frightening being back in the wasteland he had dreamt of. When the Monitor had told him that's where Darkseid ruled and that Darkseid was family to Stepphenwolf, Bruce did consider asking Clark and Diana to come along, but the Monitor insisted that they would only provoke a fight and that they couldn't afford to battle Darkseid, they needed to reason with him.

Bruce's legs finally buckled in the intolerable heat, he fell to his knees and onto the sand. Lucifer helped him up and held out his arms.

"What?" Bruce wheezed, trying to get his breath back

"Oh don't be coy, hop in, you're not the first chap I've carried on a long trip through a desert"

Bruce gratefully rejected the offer and continued onward. Lucifer occasionally bitched about not being able to use his wings to shorten the trip. The Monitor had warned that some forces on this Earth would react badly to seeing a man fly. Bruce unfortunately understood what he meant by that.

Eventually as time passed, Bruce and Lucifer shared their stories with each other. Lucifer spun a crazy tale about being the Devil, vacationing in LA, owning a nightclub and falling in love with an LAPD detective. With the dedication Lucifer put into it, Bruce didn't know if he was screwing with him or if he actually believed what he was saying.

Lucifer wasn't sympathetic at all to Bruce's story, labeling him a maniacal trust fund child. Lucifer asked Bruce why beating up clowns would make his parents happy, if they were looking down on him surely they would want him to move on. Bruce told him that he didn't believe in dead people looking down on the living, he "beat up clowns" because they held his city hostage twice a week. He kept being the Bat because he didn't want another child in Gotham to lose their parents to crime and become something like him.

"What do you truly desire?" Lucifer asked

Bruce tried to make a joke but the truth struggled its way up his throat and out of his mouth.

"To be in Jim Gordon's bed, no major crime, no Bat Signals, just the sun coming up and us falling asleep" Bruce blurted out

Bruce paused, he knew that an external force had made him reveal that, most likely Lucifer, but he didn't do embarrassment well while wearing the cowl, so he just kept walking.

"Aww, there's a soft squishy centre behind that fursuit"

"Mark 1:25"

Lucifer giggled "That's actually quite funny, I didn't take you to be the bible reading type"

"My dad was, I gave up believing a long time ago, the quotes still stick though"

"Wayne..." Lucifer called from behind him, probably having thought up a clever reply

"I may be hallucinating" he continued "but does that tank look like a giant Bat?"

Bruce didn't get the joke but turned to face him regardless. He followed the obnoxious faux fallen Angel's gaze to see a very familiar vehicle on the horizon.

The last time Bruce saw the aptly named Apocalypse Knight, it was a 3D printed model, sitting on Luke Fox's desk. After Bruce's nightmare, he had asked Luke to develop a tank, armed to the teeth and perfect for desert warfare. After Clark's death at the hands of Luthor's creature though, Bruce told the young engineer to scrap the vehicle. The Bruce of this universe must not have felt as shameful as he did.

During the twenty minute walk to the tank, Lucifer surprised Bruce with a tantrum, quoting the Monitor's speech about not interfering, word for word, it seemed he had been paying attention after all. Bruce reminded Lucifer that they were currently walking aimlessly in a desert, waiting for some kind of space king to pick them up. Bruce may have also implied that the Apocalypse Knight had a supply of food and water.

When they arrived at the tank, Bruce knocked three times, sharp and loud on a spot his lenses told him was a secret door. A young Latino man unbolted the door and slid it back, he guarded the entrance,nervously, scrutinising them both.

"¿quién eres tú?"

Before Bruce could answer who he was, Lucifer chimed in and stepped forward.

"Hold on, I've got this, I speak the lingo"

Bruce had a terrible feeling about letting Lucifer speak to the stranger but he wasn't quick enough to stop him.

"Hola soy El Diablo" Lucifer introduced, adding glowing eyes to no doubt scare the kid

"Parademon!" the kid yelled

Purple energy flowed from the young man's hands, creating a wall of bricks that slammed hard into Lucifer, throwing him backward onto the sand.

As the kid laid into Lucifer, someone somersaulted over Bruce and struck him in the back. Bruce gritted his teeth as he turned but as he did, a red and green blur flipped again, kicking him in the head. The cowl protected Bruce but he still felt disoriented by the blow. Whoever this was they were incredibly skilled.

Bruce grabbed an arm and caught his first glimpse at his attacker, a teenager wearing a domino mask and a hauntingly familiar bird themed costume.

"Why are you dressed up like the Bat!?" the teen bird yelled

Bruce tried to explain that he was the Bat but the teen didn't wait for an answer, activating a shock protocol on his wrist guard. Fortunately all of Bruce's costumes for the past twenty years have been insulated. Frustrated, the bird man lashed out with a barrage of attacks, each one Bruce countered.

The Bird was about to stab Bruce's leg with a shuriken when someone called out.

"Red Robin, Bunker, stop!"

The teen bird, Red Robin ceased his attack, though he kept his shuriken out and at the ready.

"Red Robin?" Lucifer cackled under a purple brick "Yum! can I get a gourmet cheese burger and a side of GET THIS SODDING BRICK OFF ME!"

Bruce turned to see a blonde haired young woman around the same age as the other two and dressed in an indigo costume. She ran to Bruce with tears in her eyes, giving him a full on hug. Bruce had no idea what to do, this must've been someone who knew the Bruce of this Earth and given her age she was likely one of his last wards.

"It's really you, isn't it?" the woman laughed "We thought that Superman killed you"

"I'm not the person you think I am" Bruce told her

Bruce's story was insane but he felt that she should know it. He also let her know about the vision he had years ago, about what happened to her Bruce. 

Red Robin, Bunker and the blonde woman called Stephanie soon grieved, strangely they believed the story. Bruce supposed that the world they lived in gave them little choice but to accept such a bizarre truth.

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

It turned out that the Apocalypse Knight had engine troubles, stranding everyone inside deep in the desert, moreso the only one who knew how the engine worked was a technician called Flynn and he was dead from some kind of Parademon plague that was spreading throughout the States. Bruce offered to help out, against Lucifer's constant whining, and they were both invited inside.

The tank housed four families rescued from slave camps near Gotham, they were being transported to a safe base in Hub City. Bruce's cowl scared some of the children so he took it off to show them that there was nothing to be afraid of.

While assessing the engine, Bruce talked to the heroes, a mute girl called Cassandra who was learning American Sign Language and had so much pain hidden behind her eyes but loved plushies, sketching and Shakespeare. Another resistance fighter was Gavin or Orpheus as he liked to be called, he put on play battles with Red Robin to keep the kids entertained. Even in this hellhole of a world, Bruce couldn't help but be carried away by the escapism.

Stephanie gingerly sat down next to Bruce, quietly observing as he started making his repairs. They sat there for what seemed like such a long time, not knowing what to say to each other. Bruce occasionally asked Stephanie for some tools, she got them, he thanked her and went back to work. Then out of nowhere she asked him a very peculiar question.

"Are you disappointed in us?"

Bruce looked up from the engine, shocked. How could he possibly be disappointed?

"Of course not" he replied "Why would you think that?"

"Because you always said that the mission was to kill Superman and Darkseid, less than a year after you died we changed the mission to protect these people"

Bruce paused, is that the kind of person this universe's Bruce Wayne was, waging wars with farmers and gods but failing to help anyone who was suffering.

"I think what you're doing is important" Bruce finally said "These people are the reason we do this, their safety is our responsibility"

"... You're so different from our Bruce" Stephanie mused

Bruce had a question for her, one that had been eating at him for years.

"What made Clark turn?" he asked

Stephanie proceeded to tell him a story that sounded very different than the one he lived through.

When Clark died, Stephanie's Bruce didn't feel guilty, he felt accomplished. When Stepphenwolf came to Earth, Bruce resurrected Clark with a powerful magic artifact called Athena's blade. A weapon that could grant life to the dead, a weapon that could also make sure someone living could never be resurrected again. An artifact Bruce stole from Diana.

Stephanie's Bruce wanted Clark to be his warrior, to fight and kill Stepphenwolf and then Bruce would end Clark once and for all. Clark however didn't like that plan, enraged and out of his mind, he fought Bruce.

The mortal man should have stood no chance but Bruce had a back up plan, a Kryptonite ring. With every punch, Clark grew weaker but more aggressive, later Stephanie's Bruce theorised that the Kryptonite was affecting his only just reawoken brain functions.

The fight became major news and with news came reporters. Lois Lane tried to calm Clark down but she had no idea what was going on, she even thought that the resurrected Clark might have been a clone created by Bruce.

As Clark's fury grew, his Kryptonite induced madness led him to believe that Lois had given up on him. Clark burned her to death with his heat vision and left in the panic.

The next part of the story was pieced together by Stephanie's Bruce. Stepphenwolf found Clark, sometime after the latter's brain had settled down and he was left with the memories of what he had just done.

Stepphenwolf manipulated Clark, convinced him that the human race had betrayed him and the only way he could get justice, not only for himself but also for Lois, was to put humanity on a better path, a path free of love and pain.

Stepphenwolf and Clark united the Mother Boxes, set the planet on fire and with only Bruce and Diana to stop them, as the rest of the team hadn't been brought together yet, Stepphenwolf won.

A proud lapdog, Stepphenwolf invited his master to Earth, showed him the fruits of his labour and how he deserved to be a part of the family again. Darkseid the Destroyer laughed in Stepphenwolf's face and had him executed on a live broadcast to the entire planet, just to prove a point. Stepphenwolf may have been bad but Earth was now under the control of someone even worse, a true god, a New God.

Clark was given an army of brainwashed and broken humans. He was also given the rank of commander under Darkseid's son, Kalibak.

When Stephanie had finished telling the story, Bruce was left dwelling on a road thankfully not taken. How close had he been to becoming that Bruce Wayne? One that had delighted in Clark's death and was only happy to resurrect him to be his soldier. The planet suffered because of his cruelty. Stephanie's Bruce may not have died a villain but he definitely didn't die a hero either.

-

Lucifer felt useless, why did the Monitor even want him on this mission. Lucifer's "super power" was to draw out peoples hidden desires, if the Monitor needed a hero or a diplomat why not ask Amenadiel.

The cosmic dick also made the situation sound time sensitive but there was Lucifer sitting in a tank, dealing cards to the child who tried to flatten him. He was waiting on a man who liked to play dress up, to finish fixing this stupid vehicle, all the while Chloe and his entire world was in danger.

Lucifer had enough, he threw his cards down and made his way to the exit of the tank.

"Why are you always running away?" called out a voice from behind him, it wasn't Bunker, he knew that much but it sounded familiar, he just couldn't place it

Turning, Lucifer found a teenager standing in the doorway to the pilot's cabin. Her hair was brown and curly and her smile was just as sickeningly infectious as the last time he saw it.

"Detective spawn?"

"Most people still call me Trixie"

Trixie Espinoza gave Lucifer a bear hug, one that was, though he would never admit it, very comforting. Lucifer never thought he'd see anyone he knew ever again.

"It's so good to see you, where the hell did you go?"

Lucifer simply smirked and avoided the question, instead asking one of his own.

"Where's your mum, is she here too?"

"You didn't hear?" Trixie's face dropped, she went in for another hug but Lucifer sensing the coming news took a step back

Trixie took the cue, hugging herself for support.

"Mom died back in LA, she saved so many people but there were just too many of those Parademon things"

Lucifer fought to remind himself that this world wasn't his world, that Chloe wasn't his Chloe. As much as he tried to distance himself, Lucifer couldn't help but welling up. The Chloe of this world had died, probably scared and angry. Angry at him for never returning, could that be the fate of his Chloe too?

Lucifer threw his arms around Trixie and momentarily broke down. The Devil crying was probably a prophecy in itself.

After Lucifer had composed himself, he listened to Trixie's story. Daniel had brought her to Metropolis because he thought Superman's Regime would protect them, he quickly found out how wrong he was. Following Dan's death, Trixie went from city to city, barely surviving until she met Tim Drake, the boy with the bird fetish. Drake promised Trixie a purpose, a real chance of helping what was left of humanity.

The story left Lucifer feeling emotionally sore. Sure Trixie was alive but for how long in this shit hole, and for all his bluster he did actually like Daniel, does like Daniel, he had to remember. His Daniel was still alive. Back on Lucifer's Earth at this very moment, the Detective was probably slamming Dan's genitalia into the LAPD laptop he so often enjoyed himself on.

Trixie squeezed Lucifer's hand, forcing him back to reality. The teen was about to say something but was suddenly interrupted by the tank's hatch being flung open.

"They're coming!" Drake warned "Kalibak and an army of Parademons are headed our way"

  
  



	4. Chapter 4

There they were, on the horizon getting closer and closer, bringing with them a storm of sand and death. Standing outside the Apocalypse Knight, Bruce, Lucifer, Stephanie and the rest of the heroes could only watch as the horde of Parademons neared.

Escape was improbable, Bruce had fixed the engine, cleaned the turbines and even replaced the atomic battery but the speed and endurance of the tank was no match for an army of Parademons and their Captain.

"Are we ready?" Stephanie asked, taking position front and centre, she was a natural leader

"Everything's going like clockwork" Bruce assured

"That bastard picked the wrong team to play chicken with"

Bruce smirked and raised his cowl back over his head. Kalibak had made one disastrous mistake before he had even engaged them, he had given them time to prepare. Had the youngest so called New God taken them by surprise, Bruce doubted that they'd be in such a strong position.

Kalibak was a small, heavily built, hairy humanoid with razor sharp teeth in a rotted mouth that Bruce could already see was twisted into a smile.

Before Kalibak could even drop from the sky, the first shot rang out. Drake had rigged the tank's cannons to fire what he called Birdarangs, a highly combustible projectile with red blades at the centre. There were only five experimental prototypes but they put a nice little dent in the army.

Up next was Orpheus, a master of sounds, he made use of a noise that Bruce had once discovered could attract Parademons, exploiting and reengineering it to dish out extreme nausea to the creatures. Sixteen dropped out of the sky as the noise pumped out of the tank's sonic arsenal, the bugs started heaving out whatever they had for guts.

Stephanie activated a small Bat Signal built into the top of the tank, blinding Kalibak. Bunker took that cue and constructed a massive energy shell around them, Kalibak splattering against it. The Parademons that were unaffected by Orpheus's noise came to their master's aid.

Angrily Kalibak wielded a metal club like weapon, firing off a bolt of energy into the shield, collapsing it. Bunker cried out in pain but stayed on his feet as Kalibak landed before him. Lucifer quickly put himself in between the two and with incredible strength, ripped the weapon out of Kalibak's hands, throwing it to the sand. Lucifer gloated for a moment when he really shouldn't have and got a fist to the chest, knocking him backward.

Stephanie and Drake unleashed an impressive combination of bo staff and gymnastic technique. Their staffs were electrified, sending high volts into various parts of Kalibak's body.

Bruce readied himself for his role. When Drake had warned everyone that Kalibak was coming, Stephanie confided something to Bruce. Athena's blade had been given to her for safe keeping. Her Bruce had wanted her to be able to protect both herself and it from Darkseid's forces.

Stephanie gave the blade to Bruce, explaining that her Bruce would probably rest better in his grave knowing that a version of him had just killed Darkseid's son. Personally Bruce would rather spit on his doppelganger's grave but he took the twin sided blade anyway, not wanting Stephanie to get her hands bloodied.

Tim and Stephanie jabbed two electric bolts into Kalibak's head, sending him reeling, while the other's tackled his remaining Parademons.

Bruce leapt on Kalibak, knocking him to the ground. Bruce was about to strike with the blade when a disastrously familiar voice boomed through the air.

"STOP!"

The moment's hesitation gave Kalibak the opportunity to knock Bruce off him. The blade fell from his grasp but Bruce couldn't find it before a pair of red boots landed in front of him.

Clark lifted Bruce from the ground, his grip firm on his neck. Not enough to do serious damage but easily keeping Bruce in place, like a child picking up a spider.

Clark's eyes were filled with rage, an uncharacteristic scowl crossed his face.

"I know why you're here" he said, nothing but contempt in his voice "My Lord is expecting you"

"Good..." Bruce spat back "He can wait a little longer until these people are allowed to leave"

"These... people?" Clark queried, looking from Bruce to Stephanie and her friends "These aren't people, they're criminals, on the run from the rightful owners of this planet"

Clark came closer to Bruce, almost nose to nose, his breath smelt like a mixture of raw sewage and gasoline. It was hard to bear.

"Do you know what happened to the last Bat who defied me?"

Bruce stared Clark down, he didn't blink until Clark did. Clark smiled disgustingly, turning to the tank and destroyed Orpheus’s sonic arsenal with one powerful clap. Without it the downed Parademons struggled to their feet. Clark turned to them.

"Bring the humans to conversion, make them your brothers and sisters"

The Parademon who grabbed Drake got a bow staff in the face for his trouble but Clark quickly used his heat vision to settle matters, causing the staff to melt into Drake's gloved hands.

"If you resist me, you'll become just another corpse bleeding out on the sand" Clark warned "but if you come freely you will become the right hand of God himself"

Clark singled out one person, a teen trying her best to peek out at the stand off. Bruce was introduced to Trixie, she was supposed to be watching the screens inside. 

Clark offered a hand to Trixie, his face a perversion of hope.

"What do you say, child?"

Trixie spat in his face. Clark took a moment to wipe the spital from his eye and cheek, before tightening his hand into a fist.

"NO!" Lucifer bellowed, tackling the Kryptonian into the air, his wings were out but this time they looked angelic, they were glorious, pale and feathered.

Lucifer's face changed, just for a split second but Bruce caught a glimpse of it, blood red and scarred beyond belief. Bruce didn't know why but deep down the image sent a feeling of dread through him. Clark must've felt something too, a look of horror crossed his face.

"She will be spared" he conceded

"They will ALL be spared!" Lucifer screamed at Clark, his eyes utterly ablaze

Clark was better at hiding his emotions the second time, he carefully removed Lucifer's hands from his suit and regarded the other man as an equal.

"I suppose, as a gift from Darkseid, it could be arranged"

Clark turned to Stephanie and her team, he looked almost bored.

"You live to fight another day"

Kalibak looked like a vein was about to burst on his forehead.

"They are scum! I will send them to the conversion nests myself!"

Clark landed and approached Kalibak, like an advisor approaching a prince.

"Majesty, your father told us to afford the visitors all courtesies, remember what happened to Master DeSaad when he disobeyed the will of the Almighty"

Kalibak flinched and with a single gesture, dismissed his army of Parademons. He retrieved his weapon from the sand and pointed it at Lucifer.

"You come with me" he demanded

Lucifer hovered near the ground for a few moments, giving Trixie one last hug and telling her that her mother would be so proud of her. He then gave Bruce a brief look which read as "Let's hope for the best, shall we?" before finally departing with Kalibak.

Bruce wanted to spend more time with Stephanie, give her advice that her Bruce wouldn't have, to stay kind, to keep saving people but all he could give her was a fleeting look of surprise as Clark grabbed him by the arms and took off.

Clark and Bruce hurtled through the air so fast, too fast, Bruce's stomach lurched and sand cut into the exposed part of his face.

"That friend of yours is something else" Clark told him "When he showed me his face, I felt as though I had known him my entire life, did you feel the same?"

Bruce didn't know what to say, if he lied and agreed, what exactly would he be agreeing to? Would Clark kill Lucifer? Convert him?

"When I was a child..." Clark continued "Jonathan Kent used to warn me about the Devil, his evil ways, his manipulations... I was so scared that he would steal my soul or make me a part of his twisted legacy"

Clark laughed a dry laugh, a bitter laugh as they approached a giant spacecraft that seemed to be venting fire. Bruce had seen this craft before, looking down he saw a large Omega symbol burned into the ground near a shattered city. His city.

"When I saw that face, it hit me, the Devil isn't the cause of the world's problems, he's just an excuse..." Clark sounded solemn "I did this, this is my legacy"

Bruce hoped that Clark was being genuine, maybe he didn't want to be a pawn for Darkseid anymore, had the weight of his actions finally caught up with him?

Clark brought Bruce down into the ruined Gotham, it was a ghost town, not a soul in sight. Cars had been left abandoned, houses long broken into and burned out. Bruce couldn't help but mourn for the people he had vowed to protect, he hoped that Stephanie and her team had helped evacuate as many as they could.

Wayne Tower was nothing but rubble. The Iceberg Lounge had a decent enough facade from the front but overhead revealed a broken building with the ages ago rotted corpse of a small man impaled on a decorative icicle. ACE Chemicals had been turned into what Kalibak had referred to earlier as a conversion nest. Hundreds of humans hung upside down in various stages of becoming Parademons, the sight made Bruce want to vomit.

Clark landed in Crime Alley and threw Bruce to the concrete, only a few feet from where his parents had been killed.

"THIS is your legacy, Bruce" Clark exclaimed "Your existence creates all of this"

"I'm sorry" Bruce replied, not daring to rise to his feet just yet

"You should be, a lot of innocent people died"

Bruce shook his head, he needed to say his peace, even if it was too late to fix anything.

"I didn't kill those people, you and your masters did, that's not why I'm sorry"

Clark scrutinized him, no doubt waiting for him to pull out a shard of Kryptonite or some gadget from his utility belt. All that waited for Clark though was the truth.

"I'm sorry that version of me didn't protect Lois, I'm sorry he didn't let you sleep but most of all I'm sorry he helped kill you in the first place, he was a coward and so was I"

Clark went silent, he clearly didn't expect what just came out of Bruce's mouth. He just stared at Bruce, towering over him and possibly trying to determine if he could trust what he heard. Finally Clark decided.

"You're telling the truth"

Bruce nodded, pushing himself up against a wall and standing unfirmly.

Clark looked like he needed to say something but the words just wouldn't come out. Without any warning, dark flames erupted from his chest, he howled in pain and tried to remain standing. Clark took something out of a compartment on his waist and let it fall to the ground. Athena's blade glinted in the presence of the fire, Clark must've taken it from the sand.

"Kill me, Bruce" Clark begged "Before it takes over again"

Of course, something was forcing Clark to obey Darkseid, preying on the memories of Lois, all the pain Bruce's doppelganger had inflicted. This hopefully meant that Clark could be saved, though right now he was asking Bruce to end him. Maybe Clark knew something that Bruce didn't.

Clark fell to his knees, the flames dying, smoke pouring from his chest. In a split second, Bruce had to make his decision. Bruce made to grab for the blade but before he could, Clark or the thing possessing Clark beat him to it.

"Actually, I think that's safer with me" he said, returning it to its compartment

As the smoke cleared, Bruce could see that the symbol on Clark's suit had been torn apart. Branded onto Clark's chest was the Omega symbol just like the one Bruce had seen outside Gotham.


	5. Chapter 5

Clark didn't say another word to Bruce in the alley, he simply grabbed hold of him once more and flew him all the way up to the spacecraft above Gotham.

Inside, Bruce was surprised to find human beings wearing the Superman "S" crest on their clothes. Bruce remembered them, sort of, from his nightmare but they weren't just soldiers anymore, these humans were dressed in lab coats and coveralls. These people were autopsying metahumans and repairing strange computer terminals.

Lucifer stood on a strange metallic platform, rightly disgusted at the scene, a still furious Kalibak at his side. Clark marched over to the platform before turning to a nearby technician.

"Apokolips" he ordered

A wave of devastating energy washed over Bruce, he could feel his body being ripped in two, torn between the spacecraft and a destination currently unknown.

Between blinks the world changed, gone were the autopsy tables and computers. Bruce found himself standing in a macabre throne room, the stink of blood and death filled the air. Littered around the throne which was some kind of bizarre alien skeleton, were trophies of war: Stepphenwolf's decapitated head, a glowing green lamp with a crack down the middle and the cybernetic body of Victor Stone.

Bruce's heart dropped, Victor's face was now merely an exposed skull and all signs of life seemed to be lost. Bruce tried to hold his friend, do a proper analysis on his body but Clark stopped him.

"No touching" Clark mocked

On the balcony adjoining the throne room stood a terrible behemoth, surveying a world of crimson skies, sulfur looking clouds, and twisted structures burning constantly and ferociously as if by design.

"Welcome travellers, to paradise"

"Paradise?" Lucifer scoffed "More like theft of intellectual property"

The creature ignored the comment, turning away from his kingdom and heading back inside. He was over seven feet tall, his face like cracked granite, his eyes blood red. Bruce didn't have to be told, this was Darkseid.

"I'm afraid you've had a wasted journey, gentlemen" Darkseid said as he approached "Inform the Monitor that I will take no part in his war"

"Then you'll be destroyed" Bruce replied

A noise emanated from Darkseid that theoretically could have been a laugh, if it was though it was a laugh that would have made the Joker piss himself.

"When your planet was merely a cluster of asteroids, I battled and laid waste to entire star systems"

"Nothing can stop antimatter, you'll be as damned as the rest of us"

Darkseid grinned in amusement and looked Bruce dead in the eye for a moment, before finally sitting down on his throne and gesturing to Clark for them to be taken away. Clark grabbed Bruce's arm but Lucifer was too quick for Kalibak and headed closer to Darkseid.

"You seem like a monster with a secret or two" Lucifer elicited a scowl from Darkseid, before asking "What's your deepest, darkest desire?"

Darkseid physically struggled with himself to hold in the truth, Clark tried to haul Lucifer away but was met with a punch that sent him reeling.

"I want..." Darkseid started

"Yes?" Lucifer delighted

Kalibak drew his weapon but Bruce was faster on the draw, nailing his hand with a batarang.

"I want to hide..." Darkseid confessed "Until this war ends"

Clark and Kalibak stopped in their tracks, looks of surprise and disgust fell between them.

"How will you hide?" Lucifer pressed

Darkseid fought again but couldn't stop himself from touching a purple crystal that was embedded into his chest.

"This crystal... it's made of a compound which is neither positive matter or antimatter"

"What is it then?"

"A third material, taken from New Genesis, with my willpower I can amplify its properties and shield my dominion from the view of the one who wishes it harm..."

Lucifer was about to say something more but with remarkable speed, Darkseid put a hand over his mouth.

"I have not killed you out of respect for the Monitor but continue down this path, Samael and you'll discover what fate befell your siblings in my paradise"

Lucifer went pale and was eventually released. Darkseid once again signaled Clark and Kalibak.

"Send them back alone" he demanded

"But father..." Kalibak tried but Darkseid cut through him with a glare

Clark inputted some information into a device on his arm, and Bruce felt his body being ripped apart once more.

\--

Bruce and Lucifer spent the next four days in the shattered Gotham City. They had no contact with the Monitor, dwindling supplies, and seemingly no chance of returning home.

They took refuge in an old safehouse of Bruce's as Wayne Manor was immediately out of the question, the Bruce of this Earth had left it as broken as the city.

They needed a plan of action, they needed to steal the crystal from Darkseid's chest and find a way to escape back to the Monitor. Easier said than done. While Bruce did have an idea for breaking into the spacecraft and forcing one of the human workers to teleport him and Lucifer back to Apokolips, all it would take to stop them was Darkseid realising that the Monitor had cut his losses with them. No doubt Darkseid would throw them both to Clark for some inventive mangling.

Maybe if Bruce could get close enough to Clark, he could get under his skin again, apologize again, make him think about Lois, about the good times they had together and how she wouldn't want him to serve something like Darkseid, maybe just maybe, Bruce could create some trouble for the force controlling Clark.

"Amenadiel, you bastard, I wanted the last croissant" Lucifer mumbled in his sleep "I'll be telling Jesus about this"

Lucifer said he would only rest his eyes for a few minutes on the couch, he ended up sleeping for sixteen hours. He spent most of that time either cursing out his father or someone called Amenadiel.

Lucifer also had a very loud sex dream about someone he called "Detective" and another he called Daniel. For those particular three and a half hours, Bruce was eternally grateful that Luke had included ear plugs in his utility belt. He made a mental note to give the young project manager a large raise if he ever got home.

Tap, Tap, Tap.

The noise caught Bruce's attention, this safe house was an apartment, near the top of a seventy story building and yet it seemed like someone was knocking on the window. Cautiously opening the curtains with one hand and tightening his grip on the batarang in his other, Bruce found himself face to face with a Parademon.

Bruce raised the batarang, ready for the Parademon to smash the window, hopefully he could pierce the creature's brain, giving Bruce and Lucifer a chance to escape before more came.

"No Bruce, put it down!" the Parademon pleaded with a voice it shouldn't have had

Bruce considered the creature in closer detail, its armor was different from other Parademons, red and blue. Two bracelets clasped to its wrists and a lasso hung from its waist.

"We need to talk" Diana told him, her voice coming from the bug's mouth


	6. Chapter 6

Over a cup of Bruce's favorite coffee brew and a now awake Lucifer, Diana told the story of the experimental Parademon plague. It was intended to convert citizens of entire cities into the creatures.

Diana was working with a group of mercenaries when the plague hit, the soldiers as well as the entire population of Melbourne, Australia mutated but their bodies weren't strong enough to survive the change. In a matter of minutes, Diana found herself a Parademon in a city of corpses.

After that traumatic event, none of the resistance groups that dickhead Bruce set up would trust her. Diana and her lover, Mala became their own team of two, dealing defeats to Darkseid's regime together.

Mala, an exiled Amazon herself, brought the abilities they needed to dismantle an entire network of propaganda that had targeted the resistance, it preyed on Human minds, stirring up fear and bigotry, dividing them against each other.

A slimy sack of crap called Glorious Gordon led the network. An advanced scout, Gordon had been there for years spreading his hatred and lies among the masses, before even Stepphenwolf had arrived.

"Then a few days ago..." Diana finished her story "I heard from Stephanie Brown that you had arrived, Bruce Wayne but a different version than the one who stole Athena's blade"

Bruce told her that he wanted to make amends for his doppleganger's cruelty, which brought a fanged smile to Diana's face.

"We believe we have a way to achieve that" she replied

Diana told Bruce of someone who could vibrate so fast that he could force open a dimensional portal to Apokolips, allowing for their safe passage. Diana, Mala and Bruce could then take Darkseid off guard and hopefully kill him before he slaughtered them.

"This sounds suspiciously like a suicide mission" Lucifer chimed in, taking a sip of coffee

"Every mission worth a damn on this world is a suicide mission" Diana shot back

"Doesn't matter a jot to me, I'm immortal, merely sparing a thought for the very killable human you're trying to recruit"

Mala squeezed Diana's hand, reassuringly, this war had clearly taken such a toll on Diana but together they both kept each other alive and safe. Bruce couldn't help but think about Jim Gordon, he hoped his own lover had escaped Gotham, he hoped that dickhead Bruce didn't destroy their relationship like everything else.

"So how do we get to this dimension jumper?" Bruce finally broke the silence

"That..." Diana explained "Is one of the reasons we need you" 

-

Bruce, Lucifer, Diana and Mala descended a long stairway into a dark and damp basement. They were inside a Wayne subsidiary building that in his universe, Bruce used to develop Batsuits. In this universe, it appeared to simply be an empty row of offices but Bruce knew that looks could be deceiving.

A portrait of Bruce's parents hung in the basement, out of sight, out of mind but with a slight oddity on it, a cat in the background. Bruce's parents never owned a cat.

Bruce applied a little pressure to the feline and activated a secret button, the portrait slid across to reveal a retina scanner. Taking a deep breath, Bruce leaned in and took the scan.

A green light signaled that he passed the test. The portrait, frame and even the entire section of wall lowered itself into a hidden compartment, revealing the room beyond and a woman pointing a gun at Bruce's head.

"Don't fucking move" she warned

"Don't you know who this is?" Lucifer smirked, gesturing at Bruce

"I have no fucking idea who any of you are, but bringing a Parademon into the building colors my opinion of you"

"Just relax" Bruce said, calmly "We're not here to hurt you, my friend isn't a Parademon"

"Well they fucking look like one!"

"Iris stop, they're allies" A voice behind the woman announced, weakly

Looking over Iris's shoulder, Bruce saw Barry Allen sitting on the bed of some kind of MRI machine.

"Hey Bruce, it's good to see you again"

Putting the gun down, Iris muttered an apology before letting them into the room. Barry looked awful, red lightning cracked violently around his body, he didn't look like he was in control of it. He was thin, like he hadn't eaten a meal in weeks, and his eyes were bloodshot and glazed over, like he hadn't slept in even longer.

"What happened, Barry? Why are you here?"

"The hazards of temporal and multiversal travel, the good news is I saved a bunch of Earths from the same fate as this one"

"The message..." Bruce recalled the warning Barry had sent him years ago "It's Lois, Lois Lane, she's the key"

"Lots of messages" Barry attempted a smile "Took a bit of an interest in your Earth, warned you about a few extra threats, just to be nice"

"What's the bad news?"

Barry looked tired, his face slumped and his brow furrowed. 

Barry explained that travelling as fast as he did tore a hole in time, devastating energies were released that could have destroyed the planet, but before they did, Barry absorbed those energies into his body. They made him faster than he had ever been, granted him new abilities that he had never even dreamed of, including opening portals anywhere and something called Wraith racing. As useful as these powers were to Barry, the energies behind them consumed him, they ate away at his life force and healing factor to the point that an hour's effort could leave him in a coma for a month.

"Would you help us get to Apokolips?" Diana asked, bluntly

"Hell no, didn't you hear what he said" Iris cut in "These powers are eating away at him, how long do you think he can keep going?"

"He doesn't have to come with us" Diana replied "Just open the portal"

"No..." Barry spoke up, earning a look of disappointment from Diana "If I open the portal, I'm coming with you"

"You can't..." Iris pleaded

Barry stood and hobbled over to Iris, embracing her.

"I have to" he whispered "If there's any chance I can make a difference, I need to"

"Can we get this show on the road?" asked an impatient Lucifer. not that Bruce had known any other kind of Lucifer

Barry broke away from Iris and wiped tears from his eyes.

"Apokolips?" he said, after a moment

Bruce had a thought, the team was impressive but he couldn't help but feel that they were missing an important player, someone who could give them an edge.

\--

Lying on what was left of a sun lounger, overlooking the white cliffs of Dover, was a man with third degree burns over his entire body. The broken skulls of Parademons lay around him as he caught some rainfall and sipped his beer.

"I don't like being tracked down" he revealed to Bruce, who had just appeared behind him via portal

"But you expected someone to?"

Arthur Curry gestured at the Parademon skulls with his bottle.

"Someone always does"

Bruce had to do a double take when he noticed that the sea, Curry was looking over was a deep shade of red.

"What did they do?" Bruce asked

Curry didn't turn back to look at him, he just spat in a skull and took another gulp of beer.

"I can help you get justice for them" Bruce offered

With incredible speed, Curry grabbed Bruce by the throat, his eyes were haunted, his face scarred beyond burns.

"There's no justice for them, there'll never be justice while HE lives"

Bruce paused, he wished for a day when he wouldn't have to kill anymore or use people as weapons.

"Together we can end him"

Curry chuckled, cynically and let Bruce fall to the ground.

"I have nothing left!" Curry yelled, the waves behind him crashing hard against the cliff, in fury "I failed my family, both homes, my people are dead and I don't even have a fucking trident, what do you think it is I have to offer?"

Bruce decided to tell Curry the truth, the reason he recruited him all those months ago in his own universe.

"A strength that can rival Superman's, a determination to do good, what more could I ask for"

Curry hesitated for a moment, he looked like he was considering the option. He took a bottle of vodka from the lounger and finished the remains, before turning back to Bruce.

"So a burn survivor and an old man are going to take on the New Gods?"


	7. Chapter 7

Everyone was ready or at least as ready as they could be. Bruce had suited up in protective armor, and downed an experimental formula that he had packed away for use only in the worst of circumstances.

"I smell drugs, sharesies?" Lucifer cooed

"Only enough for one" 

Lucifer pulled a face at him before letting it slide and changing the subject.

"I don't like any of this" he confessed "I remember the last time I led a rebellion against a cruel tyrant... it didn't go so well for me"

Bruce was fed up with Lucifer's devil bullshit but let him continue rambling, Bruce simply occupied himself with other business like replacing the now empty formula test tube in his belt. Even in its current state, a dribble of the contents could prove hazardous to anyone or anything that found it.

"Something that's been on my mind..." Lucifer continued "How did Darkseid know my original name? Had he met a version of me before? If so what happened to that me? I wouldn't have just pissed off and left you mortals to it, would I?"

Perhaps sensing Bruce's lack of interest, Lucifer wandered off to find someone else to bother.

Bruce knew that the formula could be useful if he survived long enough for the effects to kick in, but in a fight against two Gods and a Superman, he didn't really have a guarantee that he would.

Diana and Mala had formed the battle strategy, concentrating on Darkseid's supposed immortality and actual ways to bring him to his knees. Curry donned the tattered remains of his old armor, he still refused to speak about his people, however something Bruce noticed was how he regarded Diana differently than the other Curry, Bruce had known. An air of something Bruce could only describe as shared mourning hung between the two, as well as Mala. 

Could Darkseid have slaughtered the Atlantians and the Amazons? Or did he do something far more devious. The Curry of Bruce's Earth had once mentioned an ancient war between the two, could Darkseid have engineered another as a precursor to taking over? Have two of the armies who repelled your original invasion destroy each other and you're only left with the armies of man.

"Anyone need the bathroom before we leave?" Barry asked, loudly, snapping Bruce from his thoughts

Taking the awkward silence as an answer, Barry held a hand to the white empty wall in front of him. Barry's hand started vibrating, at first slowly and then so fast Bruce couldn't even see it anymore. Blue lightning poured from him, soon joined by purple lightning and even orange, slowly ripping a hole in the space between Barry's hand and the wall. Each bolt made the hole in reality larger, until finally it revealed Darkseid's throne room bathed in darkness.

When the lightning finished, Barry fell to one leg, a look of utter exhaustion on his face, Bruce and Diana tried to help him but he shrugged them off.

"Maybe you should stay here" Bruce conceded

"You're not getting rid of me that easily" Barry said before flashing him a weary smile and scrambling to his feet

\--

The throne room was empty apart from Darkseid's trophies of war. It seemed like even a New God had matters more pressing than lounging around and looking over his domain.

"Pretty glum" Barry noted "So do we wait for him to come back or..." he trailed off when he saw Victor's body

Barry raced over to Victor and cradled the Cyborg's body. 

"So this is where you ended up" he whispered "You stupid hero"

Bruce tried to place a hand on Barry's shoulder but Barry threw it off. Raising Dick and Jason, Bruce knew what it was like to watch his sons grieve over fallen allies, friends, even lovers, but he had to remind himself that as much as it felt like his Barry was a son to him, the Barry in front of him wasn't his Barry. His friendship with his Bruce may have been a lot more reluctant.

"I can make you better" Barry breathed as he rocked Victor in his arms "I can help you"

Bruce was about to tell him that there was nothing any of them could do at this point but before he could, red lightning rolled behind Barry's eyes, it travelled down his neck, across his arms and into his hands. Barry paused for a moment, a look of desperation on his face before finally plunging his hands into Victor's chest.

The power source in Victor's chest glowed softly in response to Barry, soon though his entire cybernetic body crackled violently with both energies pouring through it. Victor's skeletal face grew flesh, his mechanical fingers twitched and his eye even opened. Barry retracted his hands and looked down at him, hopeful. 

"Hey Vic"

"Identifying..." Victor said, his voice emotionless, almost robotic "The Grid recognizes Bartholomew Allen, Speedster"

Barry looked crushed, truly devastated.

"What about Victor Stone? Is he still in there?"

"Vic-tor Stone?" the cyborg that called itself Grid asked, before replying "I am not aware of this designation"

Barry let go as tears fell from his eyes and down his cheek but before they could fall any further, Grid wiped them away.

"I do not know why I did that, Bartholomew Allen"

Barry smiled and hugged Grid close.

"Call me Barry"

A powerful voice from across the room demanded their attention, Bruce didn't understand the ancient language it spoke but it seemed unpleasantly surprised.

The team turned to face Darkseid, who had appeared from the depths of the shadows, he addressed only Bruce and Lucifer, giving them a vile smirk.

"I had hoped that your master would have seen sense by now" he said, placidly, in English "You have no more business in my throne room, on my Earth or in my universe"

Darkseid disregarded them with a strange signal.

"Furies, leave Lucifer's bones, I have missed the taste of Angel marrow"

Three grotesque figures rose from the shadow of their Lord. Three fierce warriors, armed with swords and shields. One looked like she'd removed her jaw and replaced it with some kind of device that looked like a bear trap, another had six large insectoid legs and sharp mandibles. The final fury apparently looked different to everyone, Bruce saw the Joker, Lucifer saw someone called Cain, Barry said he saw the face of the person who killed his mother. Only Grid could see the truth, the creature standing before them was some kind of tentacled monstrosity with venom glands and fed on their worst fears.

Diana led the attack, striking hard against the alien metal of Beartrap's blade with her own Themysciran steel, the fury's sword broke in two. 

Bruce shot his grappling hook at the insectoid's legs, tying them up and forcing her to the ground.

The Joker looking thing taunted Bruce, dredging up memories of Jason that he had tried to repress. The insectoid's legs snapped the grappling cord before catching Bruce with a sharp swipe to the face.

"Do you know the best thing about slicing little Toad's throat?" the Joker thing spat "The gurgling noises he made? nah that was cute, real sad duckling sounds"

Bruce was trying to tune it out, he jumped over one of the legs, a moment before it could slice him in half. He felt a tentacle hit his back with force, knocking him face first onto the ground.

Bruce turned but it was too late, the Joker thing and the insectoid were descending on him. Bruce reached for his belt but found two tentacles quickly attach themselves to his arms.

"The best thing was the look in his eye as he realised that you were too late this time" the thing chuckled "that you weren't fast enough to save his pathetic little life"

Bruce screamed and found himself suddenly covered in the creature's brains. Grid helped him to his feet, smoke still bellowing from the cyborg's arm cannon.

The insectoid hissed a warning at the two, before being decapitated by Mala.

Beartrap tried to take a bite out of Diana's arm but was met with two strong hands, ripping the metal guard from her face.

Under the guard lay a face half scarred and eyes filled with rage.

Diana was about to unleash a killing blow when suddenly Lucifer scooped Beartrap into his arms, hovering above them all.

"Maze, what the hell are you doing?"

Beartrap or Maze as Lucifer called her, slashed at him with her broken blade, Lucifer tried his best to dodge but she landed a grazing cut to his neck. Maze fell from Lucifer's grasp, hitting the ground with a determined landing.

Darkseid gave Maze a spear and issued a beckoning hand above.

"Kalibak, Kal-El, come to me, my sons"

Silence fell over the entire room, a terrible silence. Everybody braced themselves like a storm was about to hit, so it should have come as no surprise when the entire throne room started violently shaking. The simple act of standing was almost impossible, the ground felt as if it was going to give way entirely, cracking open and swallowing them whole.

A dark portal willed itself into existence before them, Clark shot out of it faster than a bullet, colliding with Diana, knocking her into a wall. Clark grabbed Bruce by the cape and hurled him in the direction of the balcony. With no grappling hook, Bruce tumbled over the edge. He closed his eyes, bracing himself for the long fall down.

\--

Lucifer tried to scramble after Wayne but was met with a bolt of energy to the chest, as Kalibak emerged from another portal. Lucifer crumpled to the ground in front of the stumpy little New God.

Lucifer felt the cold metal of Kalibak's weapon pressed against his forehead. He knew it shouldn't kill him, he was immortal, he had all the gifts of an Angel, still that didn't seem to mean much to the bloody hole in his chest.

If this was it, if he was going to die, he wanted to do it right. Lucifer closed his eyes and imagined Chloe in front of him, she told him that it was okay, that she was okay. Chloe held her hand out to Lucifer, she told him that they had a new case to solve.

"Get the fuck up!" Someone screamed at Lucifer

Lucifer wanted to take imaginary Chloe's hand, he wanted this misery to be over. Chloe simply smiled and reminded him that he still had some loose ends to tie up before they could get to their case.

Lucifer reluctantly opened his eyes to see Arthur Curry on top of Kalibak, beating the hell out of him with his own metal rod.

Lucifer groggily got up and tried to focus on the battle. Diana and the speedster, Barry were fighting the Superman, while the other Amazon: Mala and the cyborg called Grid were trying desperately to hold off Maze. In the middle of the chaos sat Darkseid, grinning like this was the first bit of good entertainment he had seen in years.

Lucifer scrambled over to Maze, his chest was healing but a lot slower than it should have been.

"Why Maze? Why did you align yourself with these monsters?"

"We're monsters!" she yelled "You used to understand that before she died!"

Maze took her eyes off her attackers for a moment and looked directly at Lucifer, her eyes were positively feral but something lurked behind them, a symbol, glowing brightly.

Grid tried to blast Maze but the energy just served to snap her from her trance. Maze sliced through one of Grid's arms, it fell between them.

"What about Dr. Linda, eh? Is she a monster?" Lucifer tried to appeal to her

"Who the hell is Dr. Linda?" Maze brushed off as Mala landed a blow to her shoulder, Maze responded by slamming her head into a wall

No Dr. Linda in this universe, that made sense, no Linda meant Maze didn't have a best friend, a tether to humanity, except...

"What about Trixie?"

Maze froze, she looked back at Lucifer, hurt, as if he should've already known the answer.

"She's dead" she said, bluntly

"Not unless she died within the past four days"

Maze released her hold on Mala and grabbed Lucifer by the throat.

"You're a liar"

"The greatest liar of them all, if you believe some religions... but you can tell when I'm lying, can't you Maze? You always could"

Maze looked into his eyes, searching for any hint of deceit.

"She's alive" she finally gasped

Maze slowly relaxed her grip, she smiled and Lucifer felt at ease for the first time in too long. The symbols flickered behind Maze's eyes for a moment, they dimmed and faded before suddenly burning brightly with an intense, raging flame. Lucifer didn't even feel the spear jammed into his guts.

After his penetration, Possessed Maze lost interest in Lucifer, instead focusing on Mala and Grid, ridding the human robot hybrid of another limb. 

Maze relentlessly attacked Mala, forcing her back until her spine collided with an alien structure, and Maze was able to put her spear to the Amazon's throat. Maze smirked her signature smirk, the one that had the ability to make even the worst of souls wet themselves.

Mala spat in Maze's face, the first person in Lucifer's memory to do so.

A green glint caught Lucifer's eye, the broken lamp beside Darkseid glowed a magnificent emerald. Before the giant could stop it, the lamp launched something out of itself that hurtled toward Mala.

Maze tried to cut it down but the object slipped itself onto Mala's finger, immediately surrounding her with a green forcefield.

"Mala of Earth" a voice came from the ring or whatever it was "You have the ability to overcome great fear, welcome to the Green Lantern Corps"

Mala hit Maze hard, fighting back with a new arsenal that seemingly came from the ring device.

Across the room, the Superman had decided to abandon the battle with Diana and Barry, leaving via the balcony, probably to end Wayne. Lucifer knew he should stop him, four days with Wayne had shown him that the human was a good man, for the most part.

Lucifer brought out his wings and made an attempt to stand, only to fall over from his injuries. 

Barry made an attempt on Darkseid the Voyeur, vibrating a hand with the intent of it going through his chest. The outrage on Darkseid's face spoke volumes, he was insulted that this insect had dared to lay a hand on him.

Two beams shot out from Darkseid's eyes, Barry was fast enough to turn and run from them but they followed. He tried to zigzag through Kalibak and Maze, likely hoping that the beams would hit one of them, but they didn't. The beams stuck with Barry, two steps behind and one stupid mistake away.

Barry vibrated and blurred his entire body, suddenly there were two of him. The original with the multi coloured lightning and one with only blue.

The beams were closing in on the new Barry, his predecessor shouted an apology at him before the beams collided. The Barry with the blue lightning was reduced to ash.


	8. Chapter 8

Bruce regained consciousness on a street bathed in scarlet. It smelled like vomit and blood. Bruce's armor had protected him after the long fall; from what he now knew to be a tower attached to a monstrosity shaped like a cathedral. He felt like shit but just hoped that there was no internal damage.

"Fell from grace" Someone nearby muttered

"A gift from our Lord!" cried another

"Looks tasty, I stake my claim on an eye" said yet another, how many were they?

Bruce tried to move but that proved fruitless very fast as twelve or more starving people bore down on him. Three pinned him to the ground, one ran a knife across his cheek, teasing Bruce before tearing off a strip of his flesh and consuming it.

Bruce held in screams, not wanting to give the flesh eater the satisfaction.

"STOP!" came a powerful and familiar voice

The flesh eaters smartly dispersed as Clark landed before them.

"How does it feel, Bruce? To have fallen so far"

Clark lifted Bruce up with a single hand, smiled and threw him into a nearby building. The weak brick and mortar gave way to Bruce's velocity, his back felt like it was on fire, his armor bending and piercing his skin.

Bruce tried to get up, take stock of where he was. The building he had landed in felt like a furnace, the heat was so intense it made him feel physically sick.

Clark sped into the building, delivering a blow that sent Bruce to his knees. Clark picked him up once more.

"I'm sorry" Bruce tried, hoping to reach him like he did days ago

"You said" Clark replied, coldly, before taking them through the building's roof and up into the dark crimson sky

Fragments of Bruce's cowl were cutting into his head, making him growl in pain. Clark ceased his ascent, content now to simply hover and dangle Bruce over the city of twisted metal and high flames.

\--

Lucifer found the strength to make it back to his feet. Maze was facing a green sword at her neck, Diana had cut Darkseid's skin several times but failed to draw blood, and a swarm of Parademons were descending on them all.

Grid and the Barry that survived, held back the hoarde as best they could however a few kept breaking through. Lucifer grabbed one, twisting into his own demonic form and addressing the army.

"CEASE THIS TREACHERY!" he bellowed, breaking the Parademon's back across his knee to grab the attention of its colleagues

They all stopped their swarming, long enough for Grid and Barry to dispatch a chunk of them with dual cannons and lightning bolts. Lucifer found that he had a way with most demons, terrestrial or not.

Curry exhausted Kalibak's weapon on Darkseid's body, hitting him with devastating rays that tore holes in Darkseid's skin, but for each hole he made another healed itself completely. Darkseid took an ancient looking axe from his throne and with one confident swipe, sliced through Curry's arm. The bone splintered in two, Curry hollered in pain but not missing a beat, drove the sharp splinter in his stump into Darkseid's eye. 

Diana wrapped her lasso around Darkseid, he struggled and screamed a guttural cry, there was no use though, the Amazonian Parademon wasn't letting go. The glow of the lasso grew brighter, more intense, Darkseid's skin cracked under its pressure and from inside the cracks seeped out a dark ooze.

"What the fuck is going on?" Maze yelled

Lucifer looked back at Maze, the symbols were gone from her eyes and she seemed more angry at Darkseid than at Mala

\--

Still hovering in the sky, Bruce could see that something had stopped Clark from splattering him like a bug.

Clark looked at him with sad, tired eyes.

"We don't have long..." he told Bruce, pulling the blade of Athena from his belt and putting it into Bruce's hands

"No" Bruce replied, firmly

"You have no other choice, when the signal takes over again, I will snap you like a twig and then I'll go back to serving Darkseid"

"You don't have to... we can find a way to help you"

"You don't understand" Clark shook his head "the signal clouds your mind, amplifies the hurt and pain and suffering inside you, it enslaves you to that darkness inside, it enslaves you to him"

"Then we'll end him, if we have to"

Clark laughed the saddest laugh Bruce had ever heard.

"Tell me something before I go, what happened to Lois Lane on your Earth?"

Bruce told him how his Clark and Lois found each other again, how they picked up where they left off and had recently set a date for the wedding.

Tears streamed from Clark's eyes, Bruce fought off the urge to hug him.

"Do it. Now!" Clark demanded his death

Bruce let the blade fall, he wouldn't do this, he couldn't.

"I killed you once" Bruce admitted "Not again"

Clark said something to him but Bruce couldn't hear it. His ears rang, pain shot through his whole body, his gloves ripped apart at the seams, now too small for his expanding hands. The formula was taking effect.

\--

The lasso couldn't kill Darkseid, no matter how many times Diana tried. It took a being born of a God to kill a God, and apparently in her current condition Diana no longer counted as such.

Thankfully Lucifer was born of God and Goddess, however he couldn't touch the lasso without it burning his flesh.

Darkseid's remaining eye glowed bright red, he was charging for another attack and this time someone would die. Lucifer broke the habit of a lifetime, put his hands together and prayed to his father for help.

Something landed on the balcony, it sounded metallic. Barry rushed over and sped it to the group, who were desperately trying to restrain Darkseid.

"Is this what I think it is?" Barry asked

It was a double sided blade, bound in the middle by wood. The same blade Bruce tried to use on Kalibak, days ago.

"Fitting..." Diana noted, before looking to Lucifer "If you are truly of divine birth, end this nightmare"

Lucifer took the blade, careful not to poke himself with it. Darkseid's eye looked ready to go, there was no more time to waste without getting someone killed. Lucifer plunged the blade into Darkseid's heart.

Immediately the New God's eye lost its built up power. His breathing became shallow and he fell backward onto the ground.

\--

Despite the pain he was going through, Bruce did not pass out. The same couldn't be said for Clark, however, who dropped out of the sky for seemingly no reason at all.

Bruce tore off his own armor and shed his cape, he wouldn't need them now. Grabbing Clark with a clawed hand, Bruce spread his wings. Bruce had finally become a Bat.

The formula was developed by a Wayne Labs scientist called Langstrom, Bruce hoped that it would come in handy one day. It also terrified him, the idea of possibly losing control, becoming more Bat than Man.

\--

Lucifer knelt down by Darkseid, the monster's eyes had completely lost their crimson blaze, under it all he had pale blue eyes.

"I bet you're wishing that you'd left Earth alone now" Lucifer taunted

Darkseid coughed up some blood before chuckling.

"Your hands are as bloodsoaked as mine, Angel"

"I think not"

"How do you think I slayed your siblings?"

Lucifer fell silent, the grin falling from his face.

"In this universe you were my right hand, you led my armies across your stinking Earth"

This couldn't be true, regardless of alternatives, Lucifer could never be cruel enough to help create a world like that Earth. Lucifer would never betray Chloe like that.

"Then your bitch died" Darkseid continued "and you grew a conscience, returned to your humans with lies on your lips and made a deal"

Who did the Lucifer of this universe think he was? What kind of deal did he make? Darkseid mumbled something, Lucifer got closer to hear it.

With one last rush of strength, Darkseid pulled Lucifer onto the second side of the blade, he hocked out a blood filled chortle, and then finally fell silent.

Lucifer chastised himself for letting the monster manipulate him so masterfully. He wondered if there was any truth to the story at all.

\--

Bruce dragged Clark back into the throne room. Being a human-bat hybrid, his vision was very different, a strange mix of sonar and actual sight. He saw Darkseid laying dead on the ground, a massive demonic body laying on top of him. He heard no heartbeat.

Bruce silenced the voice inside his head, the one that kept telling him that the scarred body was the Devil. He knew who it truly was and that man was no Devil.

While the team tried to help Lucifer, Kalibak fought his way back to consciousness and caught a look at his father, and then Clark.

"Deserter!" he yelled at the top of his lungs

Bruce knew he couldn't let Kalibak near the still recovering Kryptonian. Bruce did the only thing he could think of, he flew, dug his claws into Kalibak's shoulders and while the New God howelled a number of strange curses at him, Bruce took him for a trip over the balcony, dropping Kalibak into the same street that had greeted Bruce earlier, the flesh eaters sounded delighted.

Upon returning to the throne room, Bruce rested his wings beside the sleeping Clark. Grid and Barry were talking, Bruce couldn't help but overhear.

"I remember you..." Grid told Barry, his voice now Vic Stone's "You... get upset when people give you Christmas presents, you never tell them but you do, because you're Jewish and they should respect that"

Barry smiled, sweetly and Bruce made a mental note to give his Barry Hanukkah gifts next winter.

Diana and Mala were holding hands and talking about a ring calling Mala away.

Curry sat in a corner on his own, applying pressure to a very fresh wound. Bruce decided to make his way over to him but before he could, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You've done well, Bruce" said the powerful voice of the Monitor


	9. Chapter 9

In his half rational, half Man Bat fueled rage, Bruce lashed out at the Monitor, his blows fell uselessly against some kind of force field. Bruce shrieked in anger as the Monitor simply raised a hand to him. The alien didn't lay a finger on him but as he made a fist, Bruce's body crumpled to the ground.

Bruce could feel his body twisting back into human form, it hurt but not as much as he was led to believe it would, almost like something was holding back the majority of the pain.

"We don't have time for childishness" the Monitor chastised, heading over to Lucifer and Darkseid's bodies

Bruce expected the team to come and help him but no one came. Craning his head to the side, Bruce noticed that they were standing still, impossibly still, like they were frozen in time.

"Why did you abandon us?!" Bruce shouted at the now uninterested Monitor

"I didn't" the Monitor revealed "I kept close watch on you and Lucifer, I had faith that in time you would do what needed to be done"

"You didn't tell us we had to kill Darkseid"

"If I had, neither you nor Lucifer would have rose to the challenge, you would have tried to find another way... you would have failed"

Bruce took a deep breath and tried to rise and steady himself. He felt so weak and only stumbled a few steps before his legs gave out. Bruce's vision blurred and for the second time in less than a week, a wave of darkness came to carry him off.

\--

Mar Novu, known to most as the Monitor, observed the body of Lucifer Morningstar impaled onto the corpse of the creature called Uxas, or Darkseid.

The Monitor summoned a portal to take Lucifer back to Hell, he assumed that the celestial's father would eventually find a way to reanimate him, to play a part in the miniscule plans of his own design. 

When Lucifer had departed, the Monitor crouched down beside Uxas. He couldn't resist imagining what it would've been like if he had of been involved directly in the battle that killed the New God. Their power would have devastated not only this universe but so many neighbouring ones as well, so many souls screaming out in fear and hopelessness.

Shaking off dark thoughts, the Monitor grabbed the Worlogog crystal from Darkseid's chest, tearing it free with the slightest of pressure.

The Monitor integrated the crystal into his own suit, accepting its power as his own. The chances for at least something surviving the crisis had drastically improved.

About to leave with Wayne, the Monitor heard something he almost couldn't believe. A baby was crying. Following the sound to Uxas's body, the Monitor effortlessly broke open the chest cavity and saw the tiny grey infant inside.

A scan revealed the baby to be Uxas, reverted to that form due to a curse of immortality, a curse that could only truly be ended by his son, Orion.

Mar Novu lifted the baby from its former shell, an idea was starting to take form in his head. After all, he was planning on engineering a new universe, a Prime universe, and his new universe would need an Apokolips, and that Apokolips would require a leader.

The baby cried, perhaps knowing its fate.


	10. Chapter 10

Days later

Clark decended into the living hell that was the torture chambers of Apokolips. It was a place where the heroes that had dared to challenge Darkseid were eternally punished for their courage.

The team didn't trust him and after the horrors he had brought upon their homes, Clark couldn't blame them. He hoped that freeing these prisoners might be the first step in proving his intentions were good. Though even if it didn't get back to them, he was just glad that he was trying to make amends, instead of wallowing in his own self pity.

The team or League, as the speedster, Barry was starting to call them, were already busy overthrowing Darkseid's remaining Generals, the ones that were scattered from Apokolips to Earth.

Clark was haunted by all the things he had done under Darkseid's control. Images of suffering and cruelty refused to let him sleep at night. One such scene of shame played out over and over in Clark's head. It was during the first year of Stepphenwolf's invasion, Clark had buried Lois's remains near the farm house when he was approached by a green skinned man.

The man bore the face of an old ally and revealed that he was in reality an alien, that he had lived on Earth for years and was the very last of his kind. The green man asked Clark to cease his actions, called on him to have compassion and to rise above the will of Darkseid. Clark beat him within an inch of his life and threw him into a chamber of fire.

The fire wouldn't kill but the man would be kept in constant pain and misery as the flames danced nearer and nearer, never reaching him but always appearing to be dangerously close.

Clark hoped that the man was still in his right mind after all his years of suffering. Clark had a lot to make up for.

Succeeding in the release of the other prisoners, Clark made his way to the last chamber, unlocking it with a simple bio scan.

"I didn't think I'd see you here again" his old friend sighed

"Things have changed, Calvin"

"I can see that... you're finally free, aren't you?" Calvin Swanwick smiled, sitting on a long ago deactivated flame pad

Clark offered him a hand and Calvin took it, standing with a loud crack in his knees.

"At least when you were my prisoner, you had appropriate leg room" Calvin laughed, dryly

"I'm sorry" Clark broke down "For everything"

"Hey now" Calvin put a reassuring hand on Clark's shoulder "An impossibly powerful force took possession of your mind, what's important now is where you go from here"

"I want to inspire hope" Clark said, remembering his time as Calvin's prisoner and the plucky red head who asked him what his S stood for. He wanted to stand for that again, he wanted to make that red head proud of him

"Would you be opposed to someone standing by your side? inspiring that hope with you"

For the first time in years, Clark smiled to himself, Swanwick wanted to keep an eye on him, some things would never change.

"I'd be honored, Calvin"

"Please call me J'onn, I think the Calvin Swanwick alias has had its day"


End file.
